Method of making railroad-ties from steel rails.



W. H. MORGAN. METHOD 0E MAKING RAILROAD TIES FROM STEEL RAILS.APPLIOATION FILED 00T. 8, 1909.

Patnnea Aug. 30, 1910.

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W. H. MORGAN. METHOD 0E MAKING RAILROAD TIES FROM STEEL RAILS.

APPLIOATION FILED 00T. 8, 1909. 968,873. Patented Aug. 3o, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. H. MORGAN. METHOD 0F MAKING RAILROAD TIES FROM STEEL RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 8, 1909.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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UNITED lsTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

` WILLIAM H. MORGAN, OF ALLIANCE, OHIO.

METHOD OF MAKING RAILROAD-TIES FROM STEEL RAILS.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, IITILLIAM H. MORGAN, of Alliance, in the county ofStark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Methods of Making Railroad-Ties from Steel Rails; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a. full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the method of making rail road ties from steelrails and it consists in intermittingly feeding the rail longitudinally,and laterally expanding the head thereof by means moving in a directionat right angles to the direction of feed of the rail.

It further consists in intermittingly feeding the rail and laterallyexpanding the head thereof during the periods of rest between thefeeding movements.

It further consists in heating the rail, feeding it longitudinally andexpanding the head of the rail laterally by means moving at right anglesto the direction of the length of the rail.

My invention further consists in certain other steps and operations aswill be more fully explained and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in transverse verticalsection of one form of apparatus for carrying out my improved method.Fig. 2 is a view in longitudinal section the swaging tool being shown inelevation. Fig. 8 is a view in elevation of the swaging tool carrier andthe cam for actuating the feed pawls. Fig. 4 is a view in side elevationof t-he feed wheels and means for actuating same. Fig. 5 is a plan viewof one feed wheel and its pawls showing the cam in dotted lines, andFig. 6 is a view in perspective of a section of a rail partly swaged.

1 represents a furnace of any "approved form, having an opening 2 inline with the feed rolls 3 and 4. The roll 3 is journaled at one side ona bell crank-lever 5 mounted at its elbow in fixed bearing carried bythe housing 6 and the roll 4 is likewise journaled at one side on a bellcrank lever 7 mounted in a fixed bearing carried by the housing 6. Thetwo bell crank levers 5 and 7 at each side of the feed rolls, arepivotally connected to the ends of connecting bar 8,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 8, 1909.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

Serial No. 521,722.

inwardly, the bell cranks 5 and 7 will be' turned on their bearings,thus forcing the feed wheels into contact with the rail section 14.

The upper roll 3 is positively actuated as will be hereinafterdescribed, to feed the rail section 14 progressively, or step by stepinto or between the dies 15 mounted in the die carriers 16. These diecarriers are mounted to rock in the housing 6, and each is provided withan inwardly projecting arm connected by a link as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 2, whereby they are caused to rock in unison, and each is alsoprovided with an upwardly and outwardly projecting horn 19 which isengaged by rollers 20 on the roll carrier 21 for rocking the die holdersand the dies 15 carried by the holders. These holders are slotted toreceive the dies 15, and the two dies are each shaped to receive thelower flange and the web of the rail 14 as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Whenthe dies 15 are closed onto the rail they rest on the anvil 61, and aresupported thereby, while the swaging or expanding tool 22 is moving incontact with the head of the hot rail.

The rail is forced or fed from the furnace 1, into engagement with thefeed rolls 3 and 4, and is fed by the latter progressively or step bystep, (for instance half inch at each movement) into and through thedies, and under and into a position where the head or tread of the hotrail will be acted upon by the oscillating tool 22. This oscillatingtool or expander is of truncated form and is journaled in the carrier21, as shown in Fig. 1, located with its axis parallel to the directionof movement of the rail 14 being operated upon, and with its smaller endtoward the feed rolls 3 and 4. 'Ihe carrier 21, carrying the swaging orexpanding tool 22 and the rollers 20, is journaled on the shaft 23secured or mounted at its ends in the housing 6, and is connected by thepitmen 24 with the crank shaft 25 actuated by the motor 26 and gearing27 and 28.

It will, from the foregoing, be seen that as the crank shaft 25 isrotated, the carrier 21 will be rocked or oscillated, and at eachoscillation will carry the swaging or expanding tool directly over andin contact with the hot rail or section of rail clamped between the dies15. As the end of the rail 14 ap-l proaches the tool 22, the conical endof the latter engaging the exposed head of the rail as shown in Fig. 2,swages or expands the latter laterally, the oscillating movement in onedirection, causing the metal to flow lat-- erally in one direction andthe return movement of the roll causing it to flow in the oppositedirection, thus forming a comparatively wide flange which, as thesection of the rail being acted upon reaches the rear cylindrical end ofthe tool 22, conforms in shape and size to the recessed faces 29 in thetops of the dies 15. This movement of the rail through the dies is aprogressive or step by step movement, the feed being first against theconical face of the tool which gradually reduces the head of the rail toa wide flange projecting laterally on both sides of the web of the rail,and then to the rear end or cylindrical section of the oscillatingexpander which gives it its final shape.

The feed roll 3 is provided with a toothed periphery which is engaged bya pawl 30 pivotally supported on the lever 31. This lever is mounted onthe feed wheel shaft and is held downwardly by the spring 32. The outerend of the lever 31 projects into the path of a double cam 33 carried bythe carrier 21, and once at each stroke, or twice at each completeoscillation of the carrier 21 and expanding tool 22, the cam 33 engageslever 31 and lifts same thus causing the pawl 30 to turn the feed wheel3 in a direction to feed the rail 14 forwardly a predetermined distance,which may be regulated. This feeding movement of the rail occurs whenthe carrier 21 and its tool 22 are near each extreme of its oscillatingmovement, and after the tool 22 has passed over and is out of contactwith the rail.

The horn 19 of each die carrier is provided near its outer free end witha shoulder 34, with which the rolls 20 make contact just before thefinish of each oscillatory stroke of the carrier 21. As the approachingroller 20 contacts with its shoulder 34, it depresses the horn 19 thusturning the die carrier on its axis, and as the two die carriers areconnected, as previously explained, they are both simultaneously turnedin a direction to release the rail, which remains free throughout themovement of the rolls 20 beyond the shoulder 4, until it leaves theshoulder on the return movement. It is during this period, while therail is freed from the dies, that the rail is fed forwardly parallelwith the axis of the swaging or expanding tool, and the rail is fedforwardly at each half stroke of the tool 22.

lVith this apparatus, I take old worn rails, heat them and by expandingthe head laterally so as to form side flanges, I produce a tie which isstructurally' as strong as the rail from which it was made.

In use, the expanded head 35 of the rail becomes the base or bottom ofthe tie, and if desired I can provide those portions of the dies underthe cylindrical portion of the tool 22, with ribs which will producecorrugations in the top face of the bottom of the tie, or I can providethe cylindrical portion of the tool 22 with ribs which will producecorrugations in the bottom face of the tie, or I can rib both the diesand the tool and thus produce corrugations in both faces of the base ofthe tie. These ribs in the base flange of the tie are designed toprevent the tie from creeping endwise.

"With this method I can convert worn rails into ties, by first heatingthem, and expanding the heads laterally while in a heated condition byan expanding device moving at right angles to the direction of thelength of the rail, and produce a tie which will be structurally asstrong as the rail from which it was made. Again I can make ties ofvarious lengths in the same apparatus without any alteration oradjustment. This is due to the fact that the rail is fed through thedies and the swaging or expanding action is progressive longitudinallyof the rail' and lateral with respect to the length of the rail.

I make no claim in this application to the apparatus for transformingthe head of the rail into lateral flanges as the same forms the subjectmatter of an application No. 520,857, filed by me October 4th, 1909.

Ha ving fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters-Patent, is

1. The method of forging elongated articles having a web and enlargedportion extending along the web, which consists in subjecting theenlarged portion to a step by step swaging action of forging elements soapplied and with sufficient force as to laterally expand said enlargedportion.

2. The method of forging elongated articles having a web and enlargedportion extending along the web, which consists in subjecting theenlarged portion to a step by step transverse swaging pressure suflcientto laterally expand said enlarged portion.

3. The method of forging elongated articles having a web and an enlargedportion extending along the web, .which consists in feeding the workpiece in a step by step movement over a supporting device, andsubjecting the enlarged portion of said work piece immediately over saidsupporting device, to a transverse swaging pressure during the intervalsbetween the feeding movements of the work piece.

The method of forging elongated articles, consisting in alternatelyfeeding the article longitudinally and then clamping it against movementbetween the feeding movements, and subjecting a portion thereofimmediately adjacent the clamped section to the action of a lateralswaging tool, during the periods the article is clamped.

The method of making rail road ties from rails consisting inprogressively feeding the rail longitudinally and then clamping itbetween dies between each progressive movement and subjecting a portionof the head which is over the dies to the action of a lateral swagingaction, during the interval when the rail is clamped.

6. The method of making rail road ties from rails consisting in feedingthe rail in a stepby step movement, clamping a section of the railbetween each movement of the latter and subject-ing that portion of thehead of the rail above the clamps to the action of a lateral swagingdevice.

7. The method of making railroad ties from rails, consisting in feedingthe rail longitudinally in a step by step movement, clamping the sectionof the rail between each movement of the latter, and subjecting theportion of the rail immediately over the clamps to the action of aswaging device moving at right angles to the direction of movement ofrail and engaging the rail,

v'hile the latter is clamped.

8. The method of making rail road ties from rails consisting in movingthe rail longitudinally, in a step by step movement, into the path of alaterally moving swaging tool.

9. The method of making rail road ties from rails consisting in movingthe rail longitudinally in a step by step movement, and subjecting alongitudinal portion of said rail to a step bystep transverse swagingpressure sufficient to laterally expand the same.

10. The method of forging a work piece comprising a thin elongatedlongitudinally extending portion, which consists in subjecting one edgeof the work piece to a step by step swaging pressure which forces themetal laterally with respect to the thin portion, and in such mannerthat a broad flange will be expanded on the work piece, and a webportion will project therefrom, Which web comprises material not actedupon by the swaging pressure.

ll. The method of expanding an elongated flanged article consisting insuccessively subjecting portions of the flange to transverse expandingpressure.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

VILLIAM H. MORGAN.

Titnesses VILBUR ZIMMERMAN, A. lV. BRIGHT.

